Saviour. The inconsistent plan, adopted by this class of Universalists, is supported like all others of the same complexion by false views of some divine passages in the book of God. When they considered the tares and the goats as wicked men, sent into everlasting fire to do what Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, came to do, and which, by a single word, he can and will show them he hath done; they must of course continue in this everlasting fire, until the business be done, until complete satisfaction be made.'Letters, &c. iii. 359, 359.

The question, may here very properly be put, what were Mr. Murray's own views in regard to the future condition of those who died in unbelief or ignorance of the great salvation? Did he believe that they would be ushered immediately into the presence of God at death? He did not. Objecting to the sentiments of those who held 'that all mankind will be on a level in the article of death,' he maintained that if Jesus having abolished death was sufficient to put all upon a level in death, it was sufficient to put all on a level in life also, which certainly it did not do. God, it is true, hath ransomed all men; but none of the ransomed can be saved from misery until made acquainted with God as their Saviour. He who dies in unbelief,' says he, 'lies down in sorrow, and will rise to the resurrection of damnation, or, more properly, condemnation. Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound; it is they, and they only, that walk in the light of God's countenance. If this was not the case, where would be the necessity of preaching the gospel at all? If, in the article of death, every one for whom Christ died were made acquainted with him, and consequently, with the things that made for their peace, why trouble mankind, in life, about these matters? Why go forth as sheep among wolves, suffering everything that the malice of blind zeal can inflict, in order to turn men from darkness to light, if the period to which we are all hastening, will effectually open the eyes of the understanding? If death destroys all distinctions, would it not be well to say, "Let us eat, drink, and be merry; for to-morrow we die?" "We are commanded to preach the gospel, and this is a sufficient reason why we should preach the gospel." Very true; but why are we commanded to preach the gospel? Is it not, that faith may come by hearing, and that, living by faith on the Son of God, we may finish our course with joy? But, if every one of the ransomed race are to be equally happy in death, then, although they did not live by faith, they, nevertheless, finish their course with joy, nor shall any individual arise to the resurrection of condemnation. This may be consolatory, but it is not scriptural. These sectarians, aware of this error, support it by another, and, therefore, deny a future judgment.

'Blessed, saith the the Holy Spirit, are the dead, who die in the LORD; they rest from their labors. But if all are alike in death, it may be said, Blessed are the dead, who die in their sin, that is, in unbelief, for they rest from their labors; but this cannot be, since it

is only those, who believing the word of the gospel, put on the LORD Jesus, and having received him as their righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so walk in him, that they can be said to die in him. These, and these only, have part in the first resurrection, on whom the second death can have no power. These, in the resurrection, shall meet their Saviour with transport; they shall rise to the resurrection of salvation; they shall come to Zion with songs; they shall rejoice, while the many who are, nevertheless, redeemed, yet unacquainted with the things which make for their peace, and who rise in the second resurrection, shall be filled with anguish. It is from these unhappy, despairing beings, that the LORD God will wipe away all tears; it is from these benighted beings, that the hand of divine benignity shall take away the veil. Those who live and die in faith, shall have no tears to wipe away, no veil to remove. Tears, weeping, and wailing, will continue as long as unbelief, the procuring cause shall remain. These evils will be done away together, not in the article of death, but in the day of the Lord, when every eye shall see, and every tongue shall confess to the glory of the Father.'-Letters, &c. iii. 354, 355.

The 'day of the Lord' here spoken of was what Mr. Murray regarded as the day of judgment, at which time all misery and sorrowing and sighing shall cease. It was not, as Mr. Winchester believed, a day in which men would be sentenced to suffer the deserved punishment of their sins, but it was THE GREAT DAY OF UNIVERSAL JUBILEE, in which all unbelievers would be brought to the knowledge of the gospel, and seeing their names written in the book of life, would enter into the full fruition of eternal glory. Then would take place the separation of the sheep from the goats. The sheep are all those for whom the good Shepherd laid down his life-whose sins he bore, to wit, all mankind; for the Lord laid on him the iniquities of us all. The goats represent those things from which it is necessary to separate mankind, the sheep,-that is, the body of sin and death, in which Paul groaned, being burthened, and the fallen angels. Thus it will be said, on that great and glorious day of judginent, 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared [not for mankind] but for the devil and his angels. Thus men shall be entirely delivered, every one of them, and joy shall take possession of every heart. These views will be found fully advanced in the extracts which follow, made promiscuously from his works.

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The believer is, in death, peculiarly happy; he is then made perfect in holiness, and doth immediately pass into glory. He leaves every thing distressing behind, and enters into the glory of the Lord. Thus holy and thus blessed, he hath part in the first resurrection. The second death hath no power over him. He cometh not to the judgment; it is the world that will be judged. These having judged themselves, shall not be judged. These are not of the world, these were chosen out of the world. These rise to the resurrection of life; and instead of being judged, we are informed by an Apostle, that they shall judge angels.

The unbeliever is a wretched slave, first to the devil, secondly to sin, and thirdly to fear. Fear, we know, hath torment; he is like the prodigal feeding on husks, Has he hope? It is the hope of the hypocrite, which will make hiın ashamed; it will be as the giving up of the ghost.

'The unbeliever is miserable in life and in death, not crediting the gospel of God, our Saviour, which declareth that Jesus died for him; death appeareth to him no shadow, it approacheth as a most formidable substance: it is the king of terrors. Not having put on the Lord Jesus, the unbeliever dies in his sins; and where Christ is, where is fulaess of joy, he cannot come: when he dies he lies down in sorrow, he leaves all his happiness behind him. Death and the grave, darkness and hell, receive him; and when the trumpet, destined to raise the dead, shall be sounded, he will rise to the resurrection of damnation or condemnation: he will call upon the rocks and mountains to fall upon him, to hide him from the wrath of the Lamb. The books will be opened; he will be judged out of the things written in the book; he will be condemned or damned, which words are synonymous. Every man will be rewarded according to his works. To him who, by patient continuance in well doing, did the will of God, glory and honor; to him who was disobedient, tribulation and anguish. To the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.

'For the Lord shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them who know not God, and who obey not the gospel, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. Then shall he say, Bring forth these men who would not that I should reign over them, and slay them before me. Then shall a sword proceed from the mouth of him that sitteth on the white horse, with which he shall slay the nations. They shall be slain as Paul was slain when the commandment slew him, and he died; every mouth shall be stopped, all the world shall be guilty before God, confessedly guilty.

But, blessed be God, another book shall then be opened, and whosoever is found written in this book, shall be saved froin the power of the adversary. But who are written in this book?

'In thy book, saith the spirit, all my members are written, and the aggregate of the human family, make up the members of Christ's body. The Redeemer will then separate his redeemed, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; placing the fallen angels, who have still stimulated the race of Adam to every evil, and prevented them from every good--placing these fallen angels, whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life, upon his left hand, while those who have been distressed and harassed by their deceptions, thus separated from every evil, shall be placed on the right hand. -Letters, &c. ii. 222, 223.

Again, in a letter to a friend, 'Yes, all who are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live. Yes, the prince of this world is judged, and the angels who kept not their first estate are reserved unto the judgment of the great day. The saints, the chosen few, the elect, shall be in the judgment seat, judging the world. Know ye not that we shall judge angels? said an apostle.

The dead in Christ shall rise first. There are, among the children of men but two characters; such who, according to the direction of the Spirit, put on the Lord Jesus, and having lived by faith in him, finished their course with joy, and laying down in peace, rise to the resurrection of salvation; having judged themselves, they shall not be judged according to the word of the Redeemer, "judge yourselves, and you shall not be judged." These are the first fruits, the dead in Christ, who shall first rise.

'The second description includes those who have not believed because they have not known. They never conceived that Jesus died for their sins, and arose again for their justification; they lay down with a damning consciousness of sin, and of course they must rise to the resurrection of damnation. Damnation, so the translators will have it; they are extremely fond of this phrase; yet they know there is no such phrase in the New Testament; but they think it sounds well, more terrific. Sir, you know the word thus rendered, should be condemnation; they shall rise to the resurrection of condemnation; and, while continuing in ignorance and unbelief, they shall imagine the Lamb is possessed of wrath, and under this apprehension, we repeat, they will call upon the mountains to fall upon them.

'But, as I before observed, another book will be opened, the book of life; and the face of the covering will be taken fronı all people, and the veil from all nations, and every eye shall see, and every tongue confess; and every creature in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, yea, all of them shall ascribe blessing, and glory, and honor, to him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever. And there shall be no more sorrow, nor crying, nor pain; all old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new. Then, indeed, shall the accuser of the brethren be cast out into his proper element, darkness; then shall the tables be turned upon the adversary, and like Haman, he must himself submit to the death he intended for Mordecai.'-Letters, &c. ii. 247, 248.

Lastly, on this subject, take the following from the Hints relative to forming a Christian church.' 'Yes, the books shall be opened, and the dead, both small and great, shall be judged out of the things written in the books. Every mouth shall be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God; and while conscious of guilt, but ignorant of a Saviour, and that the Saviour is the only wise God who is just even as a Saviour, they shall call upon the rocks and mountains to fall upon them, that they may, beneath the covert of the falling mountains, be hidden from the wrath of the Lamb. But in this judgment, the Judge is the Saviour. Here all judgment is committed unto Jesus, because he is the Son of man, the Son of the offending, suffering, affrighted nature. In that future day, upon which God hath appointed the judgment, it is the Prince and the Saviour who is appointed to judge the world in righteousness, even that man whom the divine Nature ordained. Here, instead of head and members being judged together by the head of Christ, the divine Nature, the members are considered, in their distinct characters, as good and evil, or believer and unbeliever, as children of light or children of darkness, and judged by their own head, for the head of every man is Christ.

'Again-The business of this judgment may be considered, in some sort, different from the former. That was to suffer the wages of sin; this, after suffering the consequence of unbelief, which is the torment of fear, to stop every mouth, that the LORD alone may be exalted, and to bring every one into a state of willing obedience unto the gospel. In the former judgment, sin was put away from the lost nature, by the death or sacrifice of the Saviour as the second Adam, so that God may behold the once lost and polluted nature, as saved and pure in him. The last judgment is to bring each member into the same state in theinselves. Once more-as in the former judgment, the prince of this world, who also is called the God of this world, was cast out, in the last judgment the whole of the angelic nature, who fell from their first habitati and who are reserved in chains of darkness unto the judgment of this great day, will, in the character of goats placed on the left hand of the Shepherd of the sheep, be judged, and sent, as accursed, into the fire prepared for them. Then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the LORD shall consume with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the brightness of his coming.'-Letters, &c. iii. 352, 353.

Mr. Murray and Mr. Winchester, as is stated in the Biography, met at the formation of the General Convention of Universalists at Oxford, Mass. in 1785. It was an important occasion. Not only were the two great preachers of the order present, but a form was then about to be given to it, a judicatory was about to be established, and Mr. Murray felt earnestly solicitous that the new association might be impressed in its infancy, and reared up by the influence of the doctrines so dear to his heart, and for which he had so long suffered and labored. Mr. Winchester preached first. His mild, flowing and eloquent style is said to have captivated the audience. His subject was 'the doctrine of the gospel, from Galatians i. 8. But though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. At the desire of Mr. Winchester, Mr. Murray concluded the subject. We regret that we cannot here present an epitome of Mr. Winchester's discourse; but it was never written. Mr. Murray has left a broken account of his, which is subjoined.